Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman conceded his re-election race to Republican challenger John Rodgers on Thursday morning, after losing more than 6,000 votes in Tuesday’s electionsand said he would not request a recount. But he shook his head at the possibility that Parliament could overturn the result – and suggested he had good reason to do so.

Zuckerman called Rodgers Thursday morning before appearing on WVMT’s “The Morning Drive,” according to both men. The incumbent said on air that the outcome of the race “would not change with a statewide recount” and that such an endeavor “would be a foolish task.”

“I told him, ‘Congratulations,’ you know, he won the race,” Zuckerman told co-hosts Kurt Wright and Anthony Neri. “I conceded to John. But as you have just pointed out and like everyone else, it is the legislative power that makes the decision.

Indeed, according to the Vermont Constitution, if no candidate for governor, lieutenant governor or state treasurer wins more than 50%, lawmakers will take a vote in January and can install one of the top three getting the votes.

However, in recent history, they have almost always ratified the voters’ choice. The last time they refused to do so was in 1976, when they replaced Democrat John Alden with Republican T. Garry Buckley.

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Rodgers, a former Democratic senator from Orleans, won 171,808 votes, or 46.2 percent, according to unofficial results provided by the secretary of state’s office. Zuckerman received 165,792 votes, or 44.6%. A third candidate, Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party candidate Ian Diamondstone, received 13,657 votes, or 3.7 percent. Five percent of voters left the ballot blank.

In a press release Wednesday evening, Diamondstone and the Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party said the Legislature should elect Zuckerman, arguing that (ignoring blank ballots) a majority of voters chose him. one of the two liberal candidates, Zuckerman or Diamondstone.

Although he told radio hosts that he had conceded, Zuckerman expressed agreement with the argument.

“I heard last night that the people in the Peace and Justice Party put out a press release saying, ‘Hey, we think our votes should be counted in favor of David and he should win,'” said Zuckerman. “I really appreciated that they did that. I think that’s a fair statement.

Zuckerman said he did not call the party to discuss the issue. But, he continued, “publishing this will probably keep this discussion alive.” I’m not against this discussion, but I called John directly and said, you know, ‘You win.’

The outgoing president said he had no plans to pressure lawmakers to install it, although he said he would certainly discuss the argument with them.

“The reality is they have to decide — and they have to decide based on the facts they have,” Zuckerman said. “And of course, I’m going to point out these facts, which is that, I think with these other votes – even if they were split, seven of them (voters) would have voted for me and one or two would have voted for me. for John and one or two wouldn’t have voted for anyone – I think I’d have more votes than him. But it’s up to them to decide. I don’t think they will decide to do that. You know, I think there has to be either a significant effort on my part or a significant effort on someone else’s part for this to happen. I’m not going to do that.

Reached Thursday morning after Zuckerman’s appearance, Rodgers told VTDigger, “We had a good conversation. I told him I appreciated it. He deserved time and he came to the conclusion that we won, and I appreciated the call this morning.

Rodgers said he is not concerned that the will of voters will be overturned by the Legislature.

“I guess you always have to worry about shenanigans, but I have faith in the system and I have faith in the Legislature,” he said. “It’s not like we won by just 10 votes. We won by 6,000. According to the Constitution, the bill must go to the Legislature, but I was confident he would do the right thing whether he contested it or not.

Zuckerman told VTDigger via text message that he was not immediately available for an interview.